


Rune Study

by just2wings



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Flufftober, Halloween, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Post-Canon, Surprise Costumes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27094636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just2wings/pseuds/just2wings
Summary: Magnus was adamant that Alec, for the first time in his life, celebrate Halloween properly. Costumes and all. They both got a little creative, Magnus perhaps more than most.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56
Collections: Fluff vs. Angst Battle 2020





	Rune Study

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, I haven’t written anything in too many years and it’s my first time writing Malec. Of course it had to be fluff. Thanks for reading and happy Halloween month!

For their first Halloween as husbands, Magnus decorated an entire city block in Alicante with his magic. The Council hadn’t exactly welcomed him with open arms, but in the wake of Magnus’ heroic sacrifice to save the Nephilim city, they couldn’t exactly say no to him. Especially not since Alec had just been granted a seat and they both now called Alicante their home. Alec had figured out a way to follow him into hell after all. Magnus should not have been surprised that he would figure out how to have Magnus follow along here too.

Magnus had to admit Alicante was lovely in the fall, and he had truly outdone himself with his Halloween decorations around their block, but that wasn’t where he wanted to spend the night. He was adamant that Alec, for the first time in his life, celebrate Halloween properly.

Taki’s was hosting a get-together with mandatory costumes, to Alec’s great dismay. Or rather, “I don’t care if you’re the next Inquisitor, you better show up in a costume and, no, dressing up as an archer doesn’t count” were Maia’s exact words.

It wasn’t that Alec was opposed to the idea; he just couldn’t be bothered with it. Dressing up wasn’t for him, although, after living with Magnus for the better part of one year, he was beginning to understand the appeal of a good outfit, especially when it was on Magnus.

Magnus had been very secretive about his costume, claiming it was a surprise every time Alec broached the topic. Alec wasn’t entirely clueless, he had been on enough patrols on Halloween night to get a general idea of what people liked to wear. As much as Magnus was tight-lipped about his costume, it was a different story when it came to Alec’s. Magnus had been more than eager to share some ideas at first.

“Is there any way I can convince you to wear a tuxedo again?”

Alec frowned, not because he was necessarily opposed to the idea, but because he wasn’t sure Maia would let him through the door in something as plain as that. “Maia said it had to be a costume.”

Magnus threw his head back with a laugh. “Of course she did.” Magnus pondered this for a moment before snapping his fingers together, tendrils of blue magic sparking from his hand, as something came to mind. “How about the Tuxedo Mask? Or the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera?”

Alec looked at him blankly. “The what?” he asked, watching as Magnus seemed to deflate at his question.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Magnus muttered to himself.

In the end, Alec had come up with the idea for his costume all on his own. It was simple, which suited him, but he had still enlisted Izzy’s help for the finishing touches. Not that painting cat whiskers and a black nose on his face was difficult, but his sister had been all too excited at the idea and had offered the help. His outfit was rather plain: a black shirt, black jeans with a tail tied to the back of his belt and fuzzy ears on a headband that Izzy had somehow procured.

Magnus had texted to say he was unfortunately being held up by a client in Alicante, so Alec made his way to Taki’s with his sister, who was dressed up in a red and blue bodysuit with a big “W” on the belt and had traded in her usual whip for a golden, leather one. She quickly found Simon in the crowd, who had on a rather elaborate outfit that Alec was sure he should recognize if only he was even the slightlest bit interested in pop culture. Alec quickly scanned the area for familiar faces, noticing quite a few Shadowhunters gathered there already, along with Bat and Maia at the bar. It was only when Alec was halfway to the bar, bracing himself for Maia’s undoubtedly disappointed expression upon seeing his low-effort costume, that he did a double take. Not all _Shadowhunters_ were actual Nephilim, it seemed.

Among the other Shadowhunters stood Magnus, only he looked nothing like the Magnus Alec was used to seeing. Which was saying rather a lot, considering Alec had been lucky enough to see Magnus in all states of dress and undress over this past year – from flawless, intricate makeup matching an impeccably tailored suit with coattails to sweaty and bare-faced, lounging in the loft after a bout of athletic love-making in one of those silk robes he loved to leave untied – and yet nothing could have prepared Alec for the sight of Magnus in typical Shadowhunter leather, skin covered in runes.

Alec was speechless, staring dumbly at his husband. Staring long enough for Magnus’ grin to slowly turn into a smirk.

“Good evening, darling,” Magnus greeted him warmly, shuffling closer to him.

“Is that the Flexibility rune?” were the first words out of Alec’s mouth. The curving symbol was painted in large strokes over Magnus’ bicep – it was hard to miss. Alec’s eyes ran over the other runes, each carefully placed on his exposed arms. Stamina. Precision. Persuade. Agility. Stealth. Heat. And finally, on the left side of his neck, in the same place Alec kept his own Deflect rune, Magnus had placed the Love rune. “I feel like there’s a theme going on here.”

“Oh?” Magnus played along with false innocence. “And what theme might that be?”

Alec shook his head gently at Magnus’ antics, but truth be told he had needed to clear his head. The sight of Magnus like this was… a lot to take in.

“I’m… very confused right now.”

Magnus chuckled, looking all too pleased with himself. “Happy Halloween, Alexander,” he leaned in to press a quick kiss to Alec’s lips, who was too stunned to return it properly. Magnus lingered close, dropping his voice to a whisper, a mixture of delight and curiosity in his gaze. “Is this really doing it for you?”

Alec tilted his head to the side, considering. “It’s definitely weird,” he admitted. It felt like a part of his brain could not comprehend what he was seeing. Magnus as a Shadowhunter? Something about the outfit and the runes just seemed plain wrong on Magnus, and yet familiar to Alec, who was so used to seeing these marks his entire life, just not on _Magnus_. Magnus who was so… different, from anything or anyone else Alec had known growing up. A kind of different Alec would not trade for anything. “Very weird.”

“But intriguing?” Magnus prompted, interrupting his musings.

“But intriguing,” Alec conceded.

Magnus laughed again, tilting his head upwards to leave a short, breathy peck on Alec’s mouth. “A part of me was afraid I’d burst into flames when I drew this rune onto myself,” Magnus added, stretching out the collar of his shirt to reveal the Angelic rune just below his collarbone. “I couldn’t dress up as a Shadowhunter without one of these, now could I? I knew I also needed one of these.” Magnus held out his hand in front of him, where Alec noticed a very large, very prominent Wedded Union rune. Alec felt himself go soft at the sight, then huffed out a small laugh of his own, betraying how touched he was by the gesture.

“No, you couldn’t,” Alec agreed softly with what he was sure was a dopey grin on his face, wondering how it was possible to love this man more than he already did.

Magnus wiggled his fingers, and the ribbons of familiar blue magic that circled his hand were almost comforting to Alec as Magnus summoned a black marker. “Let’s give you one too, kitten.”

Alec frowned at the nickname, earning another chuckle and a wink from Magnus, but gave his hand all the same so that Magnus could draw a matching rune on his. Once he was done, Magnus snapped his fingers and the ink turned golden on both their runes. Alec watched them shimmer in the light, his frown smoothing out into a smile as he got an idea.

“I think my outfit’s missing something,” he told Magnus.

Magnus hummed absentmindedly, still looking at their matching hands. “I’d say it’s missing quite a few things, love,” he teased.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t find any yellow cat eye lenses to go with the look,” Alec said pointedly, biting back a grin as his words were rewarded with a brief flash of Magnus’ own un-glamoured eyes. Magnus quickly drew the glamour back up, brown eyes gazing into Alec’s as Magnus seemed to ponder this for a moment.

“Interesting.”

“I think you mean intriguing?”

Magnus’ eyes burned bright and golden once more, his lips tilting upwards into a smile that was meant just for him. And that was the year Alec decided he loved Halloween.


End file.
